Linkage: The Spurs as Old Faithful, the growth of Green and Timmy’s fundamental middle finger

ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz on the dependable, upstanding friend you still don’t want to hang out with that is the San Antonio Spurs. He means this in the best way possible, praising their consistent, understated style as beautiful in its own way. If you’re smart enough to appreciate it, that is.

Andrew McNeill of 48 Minutes of Hell examines the expansion of Danny Green’s game to include more off-the-ball movement. (A thought from me on that subject: You have a young, intelligent player figuring out what he’s capable of on the court, surrounded by veteran, intelligent teammates who are capable of encouraging such growth.)

Pounding the Rock — would credit the author, but goofball nom de plumes will not be recognized here — gives us an insightful list of pertinent stats to watch as the season unfolds: Manu Ginobili’s minutes played, DeJuan Blair’s defensive rebound percentage and, of course, Toros assignments for Cory Joseph.

Last but certainly not least, Deadspin shows us what happens when Tim Duncan realizes he is being surreptitiously filmed via camera phone. Even his obscene gestures are fundamentally perfect.